…for some of us, books are as important as anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid pieces of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet you or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.

— Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Kaia looks about as thrilled as I did when I was younger...

Coming from a girl who would rather pick up a basketball or a fishing pole or even a rolly polly bug than pick up a book, it's amazing how some things that once you wouldn't devote five minutes to are now the things you crave. Some think that people don't change. I'm here to tell you that they do.

I have stacks of books now in my living room and on my bedstand, constantly competing for my time and attention. But somehow, Anne Lamott always manages to sneak her way to the top and into my hands.